Micro Buoy takes first place in inaugural ErieHack tech challenge: See how it works

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A team of doctoral students from Wayne State University in Detroit took first place at the inaugural ErieHack technology challenge Wednesday, walking away with $50,000 in cash and business-support services to apply to their environmental innovation: tiny, solar-powered sensors that can be mounted on buoys to detect harmful contaminants in water.

The Wayne State contingent was one of nine teams from cities along Lake Erie that gave six-minute pitches before a panel of four judges, a la Shark Tank.

"Will this tell me if somebody pees in my pool?" joked judge Jeff Hoffman during the question and answer period that followed Micro Buoy pitch.

Apparently it could, but more practically the sensors are for finding pathogens in places like Lake Erie, which has been inundated with toxic algal blooms in recent years.

The technology challenge came on the second and final day of the ErieHack Water Innovation Summit, presented by the Cleveland Water Alliance and held at the Global Center for Health Innovation. Speakers discussed issues related to water, such as pollution, conservation and delivery.

Second place in the technology challenge went to a team from the University of Buffalo called ExtremeComms Lab. It created a wifi system that can be deployed underwater to better transmit data, including detection of harmful pollutants. It earned $25,000 in cash and support services.

Third place went to WaterWarriors, a team affiliated with the University of Akron. Its goal is to arm young students with water-testing kits that use light-filtering spectrometers to detect phosphorus and nitrogen. The rainbow-colored results are photographed with a smartphone and downloaded to a database.

Fourth place, which included $5,000 in cash and $1,500 in services, went to Purily, a team of University of Michigan graduates who have developed a system for water users to win prizes, such as restaurant coupons, for meeting water conservation goals in their homes. The customers save money, and the prize providers get marketing support.

Also competing were:

Hydrosense: The team of University of Akron engineering students who are developing a network of buoys that contain wireless sensors for detecting contaminants in Lake Erie.

Fish.io.ai: The team of Progressive Insurance employees developed the whatismyfish.net website to allow anglers to upload photos of the fish they catch to get immediate details about the regulations pertaining to the fish. While the technology will help people who fish stay within the law, it can also helps state agencies monitor invasive species in real-time..

Plex Net Llc : The one-man team from Toledo developed a floating drone that can scoop up harmful algae from a lake, much like a scrubber in an aquarium, and can also use good algae to extract excess phosphorus and nitrogen.

WaterWatcher: The technology includes a system for water utilities to interact with customers by text to improve communication regarding such things as bad water or leaks.

Orbitist Llc: The goal here is to provide more stimulating and effective communication about water issues using video, data visualization and citizen science.

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